Digital photo wallet recommendations

[Dave00]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience using the various digital wallets that are available for downloading camera cards while on the go. I will be attending a friend's wedding, and I want to collect people's camera cards and download them, then later make an iMovie->iDVD of the pictures. I'd also like something I can use to backup my cards while on vacation.

I suppose I could use an iPod with a Belkin camera connector, but not all cameras are supported; there is also the media connector but that drains the battery.

Just wondering what other photographers out there are using. My equipment - I have a a Konica-Minolta that is sort of my nice-but-bulky camera (uses CF cards) and a new Fuji F30 (awesome, BTW) which uses the pesky xD picturecards (but i have a CF adaptor).

Dave

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

I used the iPod Camera Connector w/ my 60GB 5G iPod and Digital Rebel XT with no problem.

 

[Dave00]

I used the iPod Camera Connector w/ my 60GB 5G iPod and Digital Rebel XT with no problem.

Does it drain your battery? I'm assuming you connect the camera directly via USB2. That's the problem I had with the media reader in the past - couldn't even download a 256mb card without it completely draining the iPod's battery.

Also, neither of my cameras is listed as working with the iPod Camera Connector - anyone had experience with Fuji's or Minoltas?

Dave

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

Does it drain your battery? I'm assuming you connect the camera directly via USB2. That's the problem I had with the media reader in the past - couldn't even download a 256mb card without it completely draining the iPod's battery.

When my 2GB card was crammed full, I got close to draining the battery on the iPod.

I had a battery rotation for the XT (one in use, one on charge), so that was a non-issue. I could do 400-600 shots on a single charge, but my card only held 160 or so images (RAW+JPG) and could transfer them all before needing a charge.

Also, neither of my cameras is listed as working with the iPod Camera Connector - anyone had experience with Fuji's or Minoltas?

No help on that, sorry. You can try the dpreview.com forums.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have an Epson P2000 which is nice because it can be used without a computer, and I also have a small LaCie external hard drive which connects to my MBP with either firewire or USB. The Epson P2000 has a gorgeous screen for ready viewing of the images on the card, and you can either merely view the images or you can save them to the machine so that you can then free up your card for new images. The P2000 accepts CF cards and SD cards and I think you can get some kind of adapter for other sizes. I believe it is 40 GB, I'm not sure. There is also an Epson P4000 which has a larger capacity.

There is also something called Hyperdrive, which is a very small device with a large capacity that will save images from CF cards and also act as a card reader for later connection to a computer. I haven't used one myself, but have seen favorable comments about them from people on Nikon Cafe.

I've never tried using my iPod for this purpose, but have heard from others that while it works, it can be rather slow, too.

 

[Dave00]

I have heard good things about the Epson as well - is the screen really as nice as everyone says? Does it play well with the mac?

Dave

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

I have an Epson P2000 [...]

I almost bought something like that for my trip to Rome last month, but then I realized that my need for such a device is relatively rare.

It's not often that I find myself with a full memory card and no PowerBook. Buying a $400+ "photo wallet" just didn't make sense to me if I'm only going to use it once or twice a year. I bought the $29 iPod Camera Connector from Apple, did some tests, and found it "good enough" for what I needed, which was basically to dump between 500MB and 2GB of photos to the card while I'm taking a shower or eating dinner.

I carried a pair of 512MB backup cards, just in case, and never needed them. *knock on wood*

 

[ChrisA]

It's not often that I find myself with a full memory card and no PowerBook. Buying a $400+ "photo wallet" just didn't make sense to me if I'm only going to use it once or twice a year.

I agree. I'm thinking of getting a older G4 or even G3 iBook simply to download and display photos. The older iBooks were more compact than the macbook and the prices are g4 macs is plumeting Either that or I can buy a IBM Pentium III notebook for very cheap and install Linux (The gnome desktop is Mac-like enough that an OSX person would feel at home)

 

[Dave00]

I almost bought something like that for my trip to Rome last month, but then I realized that my need for such a device is relatively rare.

I think in terms of overall storage, one may not need another storage device. Memory cards are relatively cheap now, and if you simply purge off the bad pics and don't take alot of video, you can probably get by with just the cards. But for my trip to Rome (how was your trip by the way?) I'm more worried about the possibility of data corruption - it's nice having things backed up. And a laptop (I could use my old Powerbook G3 pismo for this very purpose) is just too big to lug around. The real question is whether one needs the display as well - devices with just the hard drive and a small display that doesn't load the pictures are much cheaper.

I bought the $29 iPod Camera Connector from Apple, did some tests, and found it "good enough" for what I needed, which was basically to dump between 500MB and 2GB of photos to the card while I'm taking a shower or eating dinner.

See, here's the issue I had with the old Belkin media adaptor. It would die in mid-transfer, but not give any indication of this fact. It would look like everything transferred just fine. So, I lost some priceless photos that way (as I erased the media card). This of course was back when a 256mb card was $150. But if 500-2000mb of data will transfer on a full charge, maybe the $29 camera connector is all I need. A nice excuse to get a new iPod, which ordinarily would be a hard sell to my wife given that I already have two.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I have heard good things about the Epson as well - is the screen really as nice as everyone says? Does it play well with the mac?

Dave

Yes it does IMO. Seen as any other external HDD.

The joy of the Epson P-2000 and P-4000 is that it supports a multitude of RAW formats. For those of us that shoot RAW+JPEG, the zooming in on the JPEG image on the hi-res screen is helpful. Last summer in SF it allowed me during my meals to review images and decide where I needed to go back to. Using Handbrake, I was able to import some DVD's and movies to give me some downtime.

So for me, the price of the Epson P-2000 or P-4000 is worth the price. In the I end up being able to "edit/view" images to decide on re-shoots because of the hi-res screen. It also provides me a back-up for all the memory cards that I take on a trip.

For I take and download from the Epson P-2000 first. If there are issues with any images, I generally have the memory cards to fall back on.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

It's not often that I find myself with a full memory card and no PowerBook. Buying a $400+ "photo wallet" just didn't make sense to me if I'm only going to use it once or twice a year. I bought the $29 iPod Camera Connector from Apple, did some tests, and found it "good enough" for what I needed, which was basically to dump between 500MB and 2GB of photos to the card while I'm taking a shower or eating dinner.

It sounds as you found a great solution for yourself.

I use to travel with my 12" PB. But some hotel safes aren't big enough for me to leave it behind. I found it a hassle to leave it with the front desk. With many hotels and B&B's now offering a computer for the internet, I don't find myself needing to connected all the time. And if not, there are enough internet cafes around.

I had looked at the iPod solution last summer for my trip to SF. Glad for my style of shooting that I went with the Epson. I was better able to decide if I needed to revisit a spot.

 

[dtsing]

HP photosmart printer and wallet pix

Hi! do you think it would be possible to transfer pictures from the printer to the wallet pix using the usb connection? My printer is an HP Photosmart C6180 all-in-one and is capable of printing pictures without going through the computer. I have a mac and would like to use the wallet pix as a gift.

 

[ftaok]

I will be attending a friend's wedding, and I want to collect people's camera cards and download them, then later make an iMovie->iDVD of the pictures.

Do you think people will actually give you their flash cards to download? Unless I knew you, I don't think I would give you my card. I might send you some photos if you gave me your addy, but that's about it.

On the other hand, if a cute girl gave you her card and it had some private pictures, I can see that being a bonus (for you).

Anyways, if you do do this, make sure you don't screw up their card (i.e. corrupt it, erase it, break it, etc). That would create one hell of a situation at your friend's wedding.

ft

 

[jampat]

If you don't plan on looking at the pictures in the wallet, best one I have seen is Hyperdrive (http://www.hyperdrive.com). I have an HD80, they have newer versions now. It downloads a gig a minute and 40 to 80 gigs from 4 AA batteries. No big colour screen, just a card reader, hard drive and smiley face to tell you it worked. They take standard 2.5" hard drives. They are significantly cheaper and infinitely faster with much better battery life than Epson. Mine has been to africa and back and normally travels around in my camera bag. I hasn't been abused, but it hasn't had an easy life and I have never had a problem with it. That being said, I have no experience with the new models. Their shipping was amazing (I received it in ontario less than 24 hours after I ordered it from california). Good luck.

Jamie

Oh, my hyperdrive is incapable of modifying a memory card by itself, it only copies data, so peoples cards are safe. If it is connected to a computer, it is a card reader/writer and external harddrive.

 

[TimTheEnchanter]

Like the idea, if people are willing to let you download their images. My initial thought was to just use an old iBook (or borrow a friends) and a multicard reader, but you'll have a crowd constantly gathered to view them unless you think you can control it. The image tanks are okay, some do a great job, but they can be a big expense. Anyone know if you can use a multicard reader with the iPod camera connector?

Oh, the older Belkin card reader sucks. I had one for my 3G iPod and it was slow and burned through the batteries like a chain-smoking hooker.